Is the Golden Mile tarnishing?

Urban and social change on Oxford Street, Sydney

Brad Ruting
School of Geosciences, The University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia. Email: br@student.usyd.edu.au

ABSTRACT
Oxford Street is Sydney, Australias gay street, a visible and famous agglomeration of gay culture, retail, entertainment and people. This paper seeks to explore the role Oxford Street plays in Sydneys urban geography, regarding the formation and sustainability of visibly gay male spaces. Theories of gay geography are briefly discussed along with a description of Sydneys mainstream gay male scene. Recent evidence suggests that gay residents and commerce are gradually abandoning the area around gay Sydneys most visible and central streetscape, resulting in its gradual degaying. Growing acceptance of homosexuality in the wider community alongside increased resistance to mainstream gay culture within openly gay populations has contributed to the tarnishing of Oxford Streets Golden Mile. Many openly gay men are resisting the gay community, choosing to embrace alternative identities, live elsewhere and adopt new forms of community organisation and integration.

INTRODUCTION
Distinctive and concentrated gay spaces experienced marked growth in many Western cities during the 20th century. Economic, political and social forces interacted to create these unique places, with important implications for politics, commerce, migration and tourism. In inner Sydney, visibly gay territory has formed around Oxford Street, which stretches from Hyde Park in the central city, through Darlinghurst and Paddington and towards Bondi. Gay men have formed a distinctly gay enclave around the Golden Mile at the western (Darlinghurst) end of Oxford Street, socially constructing it as the centre of Australian gay society and politics, and establishing its international reputation as a gay street.1 This paper examines the Oxford Street areas formation and role within Sydneys visibly gay population. Many gay men, especially of the creative classes,2 have migrated to the area in
QUEER SPACE: CENTRES AND PERIPHERIES, UTS 2007

search of housing, employment, entertainment and community. However, emerging evidence suggests that Oxford Streets commerce and once vibrant gay culture are diminishing as Sydneys openly gay population diversifies and disperses. The centre of gay Sydney is losing its appeal to many gay men as it becomes gentrified, commoditised and heterosexualised. Wider social acceptance of homosexuality has also permitted gays to adopt multiple identities and live comfortably in peripheral areas away from the city centre. In many regards, broad urban and social changes have made Oxford Street a victim of its own success, eroding its gay vibrancy and politics, with implications for gay spaces worldwide.

METHODOLOGY
This paper analyses books, academic journals, newspaper reports and other secondary sources, combined with the authors
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observations, to examine the nature of gay space around Oxford Street and its recent decline. Contemporary commentary and statistics suggest that this locality is in a social state of flux. The focus here is on gay men, which generally have a more visible spatial distribution than gay women, and are more widely associated with Oxford Street than other social groups. Similar processes may, of course, be relevant for analyses of lesbians,3 but that is beyond the scope of this paper.

Although the true distribution of homosexuality across metropolitan Sydney is undoubtedly more complex,24 and focusing solely on such localities risks creating inner city homo versus everywhere else hetero25 divisions, it is these visibly gay suburbs which have been the location and focus of much of Sydneys mainstream gay culture, politics, commerce and entertainment. Notably, Oxford Street is near their geographic centre.

GAYS AND THE CITY

Gay territories within Western cities have grown in prominence since the 1960s.4 Despite representing only the most politicised and vocal fraction of gay men,5 gay enclaves have challenged the heteronormative nature of urban space6 and heterosexual values that underlie wider society.7 In many Western cities, visibility, community activity and political organisation have been widely used to defend gay rights and claim distinctly gay urban space,8 reinforced by sexualised social practices and lifestyles. For example, gay men occupied urban space in San Francisco to express sexual identity and collectively challenge homosexual repression.9 Gay communities developed to be at the same time a sexual orientation, a cultural lifestyle, and a political party.10 Urban gay spaces have unique spatial forms,11 yet share similar socio-political backgrounds across Western cities. They generally emerge in inner-city localities with high population densities and cheap house prices.12 Gay space usually arises out of cultural processes, locating away from property, family and the high class: the old triad of social conservatism,13 although in some instances high urban amenity and lower child-related rental premiums may make certain places attractive to gay residents.14 Gay bars and gay-owned business then emerge, triggering further gay settlement15 and a domino effect 16 as more gay residents and businesses locate nearby. Gay territories have often been labelled ghettoes17 as they involuntarily segregate gay men from mainstream society,18 whilst providing social opportunities and protection from homophobia. However, this term has been contested as such places are usually deliberately constructed for politics or socialisation.19

Source: (Birrel and Rapson, How gay is Australia?, 2001)

Figure 1. Number of men in same-sex couples.

OXFORD STREET
The Oxford Street area26 (see Figure 2) comprises numerous gay shops, entertainment venues, health services and community organisations. The streets gay identity emerged from the 1960s, when many gay venues migrated there from nearby Kings Cross.27 Cheap housing, a relatively tolerant local community and proximity to employment in the city centre increased the inflow of gay residents. Processes of gentrification were then largely instigated by the gay population (see below). By the 1980s, many gay-owned cafs, bars, nightclubs, clothing and specialty shops had emerged, enhancing the streets appeal to gays. Oxford Street also became the centrepiece of the annual Mardi Gras gay rights parade (see below). Gay migration and gentrification continued substantially in the 1980s, with the Paddinghurst Chamber of Commerce (now the Darlinghurst Business Partnership) consolidating gay-oriented business activity in the area.28 By the late 1990s, Oxford Street had emerged as visibly gay space, with gay bars and shops attracting residents, visitors and tourists.29 Oxford Street became the centre of the gay scene in Sydney, with the emergence of social norms and expectations characterising gay men in the area. This imagined community and its leisure spaces (eg, nightclubs) were instrumental in Sydneys gay history, having been created by the gay population as its own space and, thus, community. It attracted young gay men and gay migrants, allowing them to come out on Oxford Street to seek individual expression, partners, respite from antihomosexual discrimination and lifestyles premised on sexuality.30 It also facilitated spatial and political solidarity during the AIDS crisis. During the 1980s, clones (young gay men characterised by tight jeans, white shirts and a love of nightclubbing31) emerged as the predominant stereotype within gay scene culture. Although the scene facilitated sexual liberation and transgressions of heterosexual social norms, its clones were almost invariably young, white, Anglo-Celtic, masculinist and in many
QUEER SPACE: CENTRES AND PERIPHERIES, UTS 2007

SYDNEYS VISIBLE GAY GEOGRAPHY

Although Sydney is widely perceived as a gay city and the heart of gay and lesbian Australia,20 little demographic analysis21 has been undertaken to identify the spatial distribution of its openly gay population. Historically, this population has centred on the Oxford Street area in the suburbs of Darlinghurst, Surry Hills and Paddington, in proximity to other gays, gayfriendly businesses and entertainment, and health and social services. Indeed, inner Sydney has been estimated to have a proportion of same-sex couples 14.4 times the Australian average22 (see Figure 1). However, nearby suburbs also have high concentrations of visibly gay residents, including Newtown, Erskineville and Glebe in the inner-west; Kings Cross, Moore Park and Bondi in the inner east; and Alexandria and Redfern in the inner south.23
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ways narrowly conformist.32 This scene has been criticised as favouring conservative social interests and protecting capital and heterosexual masculinity within wider society.33 It has also been claimed to increase risks of illicit drug use, unsafe sex and homophobic violence for its participants.34 Nevertheless, it provided avenues for organised political activism and the consolidation of gay society and space.

partly the survival of the richest, and is captive to growing processes of urban renewal and uniformity across Sydney.

Commerce
As success lead to consumerism, Oxford Street snowcloned itself under avalanching boutique and chainstore cliches. Rents skyrocketed and adventure went west, to Newtown 44

Source: (Google Maps)

Figure 2. A map of Oxford Streets western end, the Golden Mile.

Since the 1980s, Oxford Street has experienced a pricing out of independent gay shop owners45 and an influx of more mainstream forms of commerce. The street was one of Australias premier shopping avenues46 until recently, with its location, reputation and wealthy local population sustaining high rents and low vacancies. Rents were rising in 2003,47 partly due to wider property-market strength. However, the convergence towards mainstream retail rendered many gay shops and bars commercially unviable. Since the late 1990s more gay bars have closed than opened,48 and the Albury Hotel has been converted into a brand-name clothing shop.49 Multiple retail chain outlets have emerged, including fashion, coffee and travel agencies, in a shift away from the commerce of queer50 along Oxford Street. However, retail growth on Oxford Street has slowed markedly since Westfield Bondi Junction, a large shopping centre, opened nearby.51 In August 2006, the vacancy rate on council properties was approximately 20%,52 with competition from the Westfield, inadequate parking space, problems with street crime and an atmosphere of desertion reducing profitability.53 Footpath improvement activities in 2005 may have hindered retail growth, impeding shop access and reducing visual appeal. Nevertheless, in late 2006 City of Sydney Council (the largest retail property owner) lowered its rents by up to 50% to boost retail growth.54 The Always Oxford Street festival, held in March 2006 and the recent opening of some gay bars55 have also had positive impacts. However, despite recent sales growth and declining vacancies, the long-term commercial viability of Oxford Street (and other Sydney shopping strips) is unclear.

URBAN AND SOCIAL CHANGE

Fear of the loss of identity through assimilation and integration, rather than through repression, is a common preoccupation in gay establishments along Oxford Street35

Recently, a number of empirical, anecdotal and media sources have indicated a decline in Oxford Streets gay vibrancy. Some gay bars have closed and many gay-themed shops have been replaced with mainstream retail outlets.36 Gay migration to the area is reportedly falling, and the number of gay couples living in Darlinghurst fell 25% between 1996 and 2001.37 Sydneys gay territory appears to be losing some of its visibility and attractiveness to gay men. Is the Golden Mile tarnishing?

Gentrification
In recent decades, much of inner Sydney has undergone urban renewal. Gentrification first occurred in 1960s Paddington as cheap, run down properties close to the city centre were purchased and then renovated, mostly by gay men.38 It has been argued that many inner-city gay territories generate an urban renaissance39 of gradual architectural improvements, thereby raising property prices and rents. This has attracted many wealthier gay men and young middle-class heterosexuals to the Oxford Street area. Arguably, such gay gentrification processes exploit the class and gender positions of wealthier gays within society, facilitating gay community survival40 but pricing out poorer gays from such areas.41 Additionally, the concomitant commoditisation of gay urban space and perceptions of diversity have appealed to heterosexual property-buyers and gay tourists.42 However, gentrification and higher housing prices have thus acted to drive-out the very people that lends parts of cities their bohoness or edginess43 that was initially attractive, pricing-out some aspects of gay culture. Oxford Streets gay territory is thus
QUEER SPACE: CENTRES AND PERIPHERIES, UTS 2007

Wider social acceptance

Arguably the most significant social transformation affecting Sydneys gay space has been increasing tolerance and acceptance of homosexuality. Many gay political struggles of previous decades have been victorious (including legalised gay sex, stronger anti-discrimination protections and local council support), and the harassment of openly gay men in many places has generally declined in the past 30 years. Gay matters have received increasing attention in the mainstream media, with the hegemony of liberal values and the normalisation of homosexuals56 moving wider public opinion towards acceptance of gays. One effect of this has been a gradual dispersion of visibly gay men away from Oxford Street. Changing attitudes are reflected in popular culture. Many television programs and films (including the recent Brokeback Mountain) have incorporated gay characters and themes.57 Popular culture now embraces gay58 and a generation of youth have grown up with homosexuality no longer [being] a taboo subject.59 With a many public figures (including sportspeople and
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actors) having come out and adopted diverse identities, younger generations have become more accepting of homosexual people and, indeed, of their own sexualities. Although Sydneys gay territory has been instrumental in achieving political goals previously, arguably the visibility of Oxford Street and Mardi Gras (see below) has been superseded by the media normalisation of homosexuality as the main determinant of public opinion on gay matters. However, greater social acceptance of homosexuality has been paralleled by the commoditisation of elements of gay urban culture, resulting in some desexualisation of gay space and the treatment of its inhabitants as spectacles.60 As gay spaces, including Oxford Street, have become increasingly profitable destinations for entertainment, investment and tourism, a number of straight bars and clubs have recently emerged.61 Oxford Streets sub-cultural spectacle has attracted wider audiences, and concerns have arisen over heterosexual women patronising gay bars,62 resulting in the gradual exclusion and alienation of undesirable gays from gay space itself as it becomes profitable to target wider markets. Sydneys entertainment geographies are being further blurred by greater acceptance of visibly gay men in straight venues. The influx of clientele from more diverse places and social backgrounds to Oxford Street has, however, increased tensions between straight visitors and the gay community. Despite growing acceptance of homosexuality in society, homophobia is still prevalent, with 43% of Australian men believing homosexuality to be immoral.63 Recently, anti-gay violence has reportedly increased around Oxford Street,64 with visibly gay men estimated to be four times more likely than straight-looking men to be assaulted in Sydney 65. Most assaults occur around Oxford Street, with nearby straight clubs66 and the visibility of gays around Oxford Street67 often blamed for attracting arbitrary physical and verbal homophobic attacks to the area. As a result, many gay men are abandoning Oxford Street as a place of lifestyle and entertainment, or visiting the area less often.

Just as the camp gay stereotype of the 1970s became replaced with that of the clones who were more interested in nightclubbing and gyms than gay politics,73 gay culture has further evolved. Clones have become less defensive about their masculinity,74 with the stereotype merging into one of young-looking, thin, stylish men. However, many gays are rejecting the continued standardisation of gay culture and an overcommercialisation of gay life.75 Mainstream gay culture often privileges affluent white men, reducing its claim to represent all selfidentifying homosexuals and resulting in a corresponding rejection of that culture by some gay men.76 Further, the presence of illicit drugs (such as crystal amphetamine77) in gay culture and a growing perception of Oxford Street as a dirty, sleazy and dangerous rather than vibrant, hedonistic and enticing place have reinforced this rejection of Sydneys gay culture. Perhaps gays are still migrating to the city in big numbers, but towards lifestyles other than gay, and not necessarily to the Oxford Street area. Many gays may no longer feel the need to proclaim their sexuality by wearing it on their sleeves and subsuming themselves into lifestyles based almost entirely on socially constructed notions of that sexuality. Individualism is gaining prominence among openly gay men, coinciding with a subsidence of gay political involvement and a growing standardisation of mainstream gay culture in places like Oxford Street. This development parallels the choice of some middle-class gays in San Francisco in the early 1980s to resist gay territory by living elsewhere, without challenging a system that otherwise was highly favourable to their sex, to their class, and to their race.78 In Sydney, mainstream gay culture has been increasingly rejected in the past decade, with gay liberation almost reaching its goal of individual freedom. Young gay men are increasingly comfortable about coming out79 and are growing up without experiencing widespread homophobia.80 Alternative forms of lifestyle and identity are being adopted, based on ethnicity, religion, employment, sub-culture or queer-ness that are simultaneously competing, mutually reinforcing and fluid. Gay culture and clones still exist and are somewhat popular, but are losing ground to other forms of self-identification as the cultural commonalities of Sydneys gay men erode alongside the declining spatial distinctiveness of gay Oxford Street.

Diversity and resistance

Despite improved social attitudes towards homosexuality, segments of openly gay populations across Western societies are increasingly resisting mainstream gay culture in place of other personal identities. Some have decreed the end of gay,68 and the need for gay enclaves like Oxford Street has diminished. Earlier generations of gay activists have aged or died 69 and are not being replaced: gay is pass.70 Arguably, the onset of AIDS in the 1980s acted to delay the disintegration of the gay community by posing an existential challenge to sexualised, hedonistic gay culture that meant homosexuality could be deadly, and made many gay men reliant on wider society for medicine and assistance. Gay territories were thus reinforced as places of community support and health services, whilst deaths from AIDS established homosexuality as a legitimate topic more swiftly than any political manifesto could possibly have done.71 By the late 1990s, when improved medications and awareness had reduced the AIDS threat, gay territories became less unified as a major binding force eroded. Claiming territory through everyday gay lives was no longer still profoundly radical.72

Mardi Gras
Many social changes affecting gay Sydney are evident in the history of the Mardi Gras parade,81 a colourful gay rights march incorporating Oxford Street. First held in 1978, the parade attracts around 800,000 spectators82 and injects around $100 million into Sydneys economy annually.83 Its original aim was greater civil rights for gay men and lesbians and increased acceptance of homosexuality. It has become a political metaphor for tolerance84 and attracts substantial media attention. Gay Sydney has claimed public space, Oxford Street, for itself by marching through it,85 in an ostentatious carnival of sexuality, politics and protest. However, the festivals organising body went into receivership in 2002, due to financial difficulties, rising insurance costs and declining international tourism.86 Attention has been given to its declining relevance for many gay men.87 The parade has been criticised as merely managing success,88 reducing transgresQUEER SPACE: CENTRES AND PERIPHERIES, UTS 2007

sive behaviour into the commercialization and commodification of queer89 and relying on authorized transgressions90 of Sydney streets by gaining prior council permission. It has become largely a spectacle for wider society,91 captive to commercial and sponsorship pressures. These have arguably eroded and restricted its political power, creativity and shock value, concealing remaining inequalities faced by homosexuals and alienating some gays. Mardi Gras has also been criticised for excluding gays who are not white, middle-class or urban, and excluding some important gay issues. As such, many gays no longer feel the need to partake in the parade itself or fight for further civil rights. Although it still has political aims,92 retains a central place in Sydneys gay identity and has become more financially viable recently (becoming part of a month-long arts and social events festival), Mardi Gras appears to present humour more than activism to spectators. For gays, it offers entertainment rather than politics, and is becoming just another event on the gay party calendar.

appear to be emerging across inner Sydney, challenging Oxford Streets position at the centre of the mainstream gay universe. However, it would be erroneous to conclude that no selfidentifying gay men exist in outside inner Sydney, as many (perhaps most) homosexuals do not live in gay territories and often conceal their sexuality. Gay men on Oxford Street reputedly believe there are no fags out there100 in suburbia. However, there are, yet lacking a space, they lack a visibility.101 For example, Western Sydney is often imagined as a place of heterosexual masculinity, housing many social groups of low social status.102 As such, there is no density to the gayness that exists there.103 Nevertheless, the existence of gay men and social organisations in Western Sydney has been increasingly acknowledged and is growing.104 Gay westies often interpret their identity differently to gays on Oxford Street, rejecting mainstream gay culture in place of an otherness prestige, 105 whilst embracing suburban values of friendship and the fair go.106 Despite the relative lack of gay-targeted health and social services in Western Sydney, it appears that the geography of gay identity in Sydney is, and always has been, diverse. Diversity within the broader gay community (such as of ethnicity, age, religion, employment or location) should not be understated or dismissed, and underlies the increased rejection of Oxford Street as central to visibly gay lifestyles.

The Internet
The Internet has been popular among gay men, providing opportunities for enhanced social interaction and information gathering from almost any location, further straining Oxford Streets gay culture. Its accessible, affordable and anonymous93 features have enabled gay men to find friends, sex, health information and counselling services online. The Internet allows socially and geographically isolated gays to interact and form cyber communities, possibly reducing patronage at gay bars94 and dependence on gay territories. Nevertheless, it has also provided opportunities for gay men close to Oxford Street to use gay bars to meet Internet friends. Forms of gay community organisation have been altered by the Internet, with the emergence of online gay cultures and website profiles.95 Gay youth use websites to seek social interaction and discuss their sexuality,96 diminishing incentives to join the scene or visit Oxford Street. Overall, diversity and participation in the gay community have been enhanced, in an interactive and participatory manner, even though gay urban spaces may be adversely affected.

CONCLUSION
This paper has examined the gay geography of Sydney and social processes affecting its most visible space around Oxford Street. Gentrification and the wider social acceptance of homosexuality have increased the number of middle-class heterosexual residents and visitors to Oxford Street, infiltrating the once vibrant gay atmosphere with mainstream shops and straight clubs, thereby pricing out segments of the gay community. Gay populations are simultaneously resisting Oxford Streets culture, with many openly gay men rejecting the scene and adopting alternative identities, whilst residing in more peripheral places. Wider social acceptance and the Internet have reduced the need for gay youth to come out onto the scene to attain fulfilling lifestyles. The achievement of many gay political goals has also rendered Oxford Street, Mardi Gras and gay politics unappealing to many homosexuals. Indeed, as Oxford Street has converged towards being just another shopping and nightlife locality in Sydney, its underlying appeal has diminished. It may appear to contain a distinctive, vibrant gay culture, yet the gay culture that remains in the area has become progressively commoditised and standardised. As such, many gays may reject it as a fauxhemia (as in fake Bohemia) and seek identities and lifestyles through other means. While the impacts of Oxford Streets relatively recent decline on gay Sydney are still emerging, it is likely that it will remain a focal point for gay culture, if only because few other places have challenged its status as the queer heart of Sydney.107 Many gays who have rejected Oxford Street nevertheless visit it occasionally, and it is not inconceivable that its gay population may again expand. Future growth is likely in retail and entertainment, albeit targeted towards a less gay market. However, the Golden Mile may have permanently lost its once strong attraction for many gay men as it de-gays, and as alternative socialisation avenues evolve. It appears that individual nonBRAD RUTING 5

MOVING ELSEWHERE
Urban and social changes affecting Oxford Street are also altering Sydneys wider gay geography. Gay men are becoming visible in other inner city and suburban places, raising questions of whether gay Sydney has dispersed, whether more gays have come out and are challenging Oxford Streets central role, or both. A pink shift97 away from Darlinghurst and towards Inner West suburbs such as Newtown, Erskineville, Glebe and Chippendale has been observed, with relative housing affordability, some gay services and a gay-friendly local population being the main drawcards.98 King Street, Newtown, is often presented as a gay-friendly and alternative place with a burgeoning gay community, despite occasional negative comparisons to Oxford Street by some gays.99 Other inner-city suburbs, such as Pyrmont and Potts Point, have also been popular with gay men, most likely because of the lifestyle benefits such places offer (for example, cafs, employment, gyms, bars and few children). A number of smaller, localised gay enclaves
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heterosexual identities are being defined in less geographical terms than previously, aided by wider social acceptance. As sociologist Manuel Castells concluded for San Francisco, the survival of the gay community is closely tied to the overall process of social change.108 The significance of coherent homosexual identities and specific gay spaces has declined, perhaps irreversibly, in a process likely to be mirrored in other Western cities. Although more research is desirable, it appears that, for Oxford Street, diversity and acceptance have led to decline.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I wish to thank John Connell for his useful feedback and support. I also wish to thank the two anonymous referees for their useful comments, along with the conference convenors.

C. Faro and G. Wotherspoon, Street seen: A history of Oxford Street, Carlton South, Victoria: Melbourne University Press, 2000, p. 286. 2 R. Florida, The rise of the creative class, New York: Basic Books, 2002. 3 For geographic analyses of lesbians in cities, refer to S. Adler and J. Brenner, Gender and space: Lesbians and gay men in the city, International Journal of Urban and Regional Research , 16, 1 (1992): 24-34; M. Castells and K. Murphy, Cultural identity and urban structure: The spatial organization of San Franciscos Gay Community, in N. I. Fainstein and S. S. Fainstein (eds), Urban policy under capitalism , Beverly Hills, California: Sage Publications, 1982, pp. 237-259; or G. Valentine and T. Skelton, Finding oneself, losing oneself: The lesbian and gay scene as a paradoxical space, International Journal of Urban and Regional Research , 27, 4 (2003): 849-866. For more general overviews of the geography of sexuality, see J. Binnie and G. Valentine, Geographies of sexuality A review of progress, Progress in Human Geography, 23, 2, (1999): 175-187; or D. Bell and G. Valentine, Mapping desire: Geographies of sexualities, London: Routledge, 1995. 4 For a brief history of gays and the city, see R. Aldrich, Homosexuality and the city: An historical overview, Urban Studies, 41, 9 (2004): 1719-1737. 5 P. Jackson, Maps of meaning: An introduction to cultural geography, London: Unwin Hyman, 1989, p. 128. 6 Bell and Valentine, Mapping desire, p. 18. 7 S. Kirby and I. Hay (Hetero)sexing space: Gay men and straight space in Adelaide, South Australia, Professional Geographer, 49, 3 (1997): 295-305. 8 Adler and Brenner, Gender and space,; M. Lauria and L. Knopp, Toward and analysis of the role of gay communities in the urban renaissance, Urban Geography, 6, 2 (1985): 152-169. 9 M. Castells, The city and the grassroots: A cross-cultural theory of urban social movements, Caulfield East, Victoria: Edward Arnold, 1983.
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Castells and Murphy, Cultural identity and urban structure, p. 256. 11 L. Knopp, Sexuality and urban space: Gay male identity politics in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia, in R. Fincher and J. Jacobs (eds), Cities of Difference, New York: The Guildford Press, 1998, pp. 149-176. 12 A. Leese, Were everywhere but here, Sydney Star Observer, 28 January 1994, pp. 15-16. 13 Castells and Murphy, Cultural identity and urban structure, p. 250. 14 D. Black, G. Gates, S. Sanders and L. Taylor (2002), Why do gay men live in San Francisco?, Journal of Urban Economics, 51 (2002): 54-76, p. 74. 15 Castells, The city and the grassroots. 16 R. L. Ivy, Geographical variation in alternative tourism and recreation establishments, Tourism Geographies, 3, 3 (2001): 338-355. 17 M. P. Levine, A sociology of male homosexuality, New York: Harper and Row, 1979. 18 Jackson, Maps of meaning. 19 Castells, The city and the grassroots. 20 City of Sydney, Social Plan 2006-2010: Connecting people, building communities. Volume 2: Community target groups and action plans, Sydney: City of Sydney Council, 2006, p. 98. 21 Notable exceptions include B. Birrell and V. Rapson, How gay is Australia?, People and Place, 10, 4 (2002): 59-67; Leese, Were everywhere but here; and City of Sydney, Social Plan 2006-2010. 22 Birrell and Rapson, How gay is Australia? 23 As identified by P. Murphy and S. Watson, Surface city: Sydney at the millennium, Annandale, Sydney: Pluto Press, pp. 6294; D. Macken, Something amiss in the heart of Darlo, Australian Financial Review , 21 February 2004, p. 31; and Leese, Were everywhere but here. 24 See Murphy and Watson, Surface City; or S. Hodge, No fags out there: Gay men, identity and suburbia, Journal of Interdisciplinary Gender Studies, 1, 1 (1995): 41-8. 25 L. Costello and S. Hodge, Queer/clear/here: Destabilising sexualities and spaces, in E. Stratford (ed), Australian cultural geographies, Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1999, pp. 31-52 (p. 49). 26 For a history of Oxford Street, see Faro and Wotherspoon, Street seen or Murphy and Watson, Surface City. For a history of gay politics in Sydney, see G. Wotherspoon, City of the plain: History of a gay sub-culture, Sydney: Hale & Iremonger, 1991; or R. Reynolds, From camp to queer: Remaking the Australian homosexual, Carlton South, Victoria: Melbourne University Press, 2002. 27 Faro and Wotherspoon, Street seen . 28 Faro and Wotherspoon, Street seen . 29 Murphy and Watson, Surface City. 30 Valentine and Skelton, Finding oneself, losing oneself. 31 Faro and Wotherspoon, Street seen . 32 Faro and Wotherspoon, Street seen , p. 251. 33 Knopp, Sexuality and urban space.
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Valentine and Skelton, Finding oneself, losing oneself. Knopp, Sexuality and urban space, pp. 166-167. 36 A. Hornery, That old queens gay reign is on the wane, The Sydney Morning Herald, 24 July 2001, p. 3. 37 According to statistics cited by Macken, Something amiss in the heart of Darlo. 38 Faro and Wotherspoon, Street seen . 39 Lauria and Knopp, Toward and analysis of the role of gay communities in the urban renaissance. 40 Knopp, Sexuality and urban space. 41 Castells, The city and the grassroots, documents this process in San Francisco during the 1970s. 42 See S.Quilley, Constructing Manchesters new urban village: Gay space in the entrepreneurial city in G. B. Ingram, A. M. Bouthillette and Y. Retter (eds), Queers in space: Communities, public places, sites of resistance, Seattle: Bay Press, 1997, pp. 275-299; and J. Polchin, Having something to wear: The landscape of identity on Christopher Street, in G. B. Ingram, A. M. Bouthillette and Y. Retter (eds), Queers in space: Communities, public places, sites of resistance, Seattle: Bay Press, 1997, pp. 381-390. 43 D. Bell and J. Binnie, Authenticating queer space: Citizenship, urbanism and governance, Urban Studies, 41, 9 (2004): 1807-1820, p. 1815. 44 E. Farrelly, Oxford Street is baring all, and its no mardi gras, The Sydney Morning Herald, 16 August 2006, p. 13. 45 Faro and Wotherspoon, Street seen . 46 B. Schwartz, Developers put high streets back on the shopping list, The Australian, 14 March 2006, p. 23. 47 C. Cummins, Oxford Street grunge makes way for cosmopolitan living, The Sydney Morning Herald, 21 July 2003, p. 31. 48 Dick, At the end of the rainbow. 49 The Sunday Telegraph, A sporting makeover: Famous Oxford Street pub takes on new look, 13 April 2003, p. 38. 50 Macken, Something amiss in the heart of Darlo. 51 R. Harley, Customers desert small retailers for Westfield giant, Australian Financial Review , 23 June 2005, p. 49; Farrelly, Oxford Street is baring all, and its not mardi gras. 52 J. Norrie, Rents slashed to slow Oxford Street exodus, The Sydney Morning Herald, 25 August 2006, p. 5. 53 J. Norrie, Shabby thoroughfare wants a new lease of life, The Sydney Morning Herald, 5 August 2006, p. 9; Schwartz, Developers put high streets back on the shopping list. 54 Norrie, Rents slashed to slow Oxford Street exodus. 55 Including Slide and DCM. 56 G. Willett, Living out loud: A history of gay and lesbian activism in Australia, St. Leonards, NSW: Allen & Unwin, 2000, p. 240. 57 See Willett, Living out loud; or A. Sullivan, The end of gay culture, The New Republic, 24 October 2005, pp. 16-21. 58 B. Ruting, The Oxford Street exodus, The Australian, 18 October 2006, p. 25. 59 Sullivan, The end of gay culture, p. 18.

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Bell and Binnie, Authenticating queer space,; Quilley, Constructing Manchesters new urban village. 61 Including Suzie Qs, Mylk and Havanna. 62 See Bell and Binnie, Authenticating queer space, for a wider discussion of this. 63 M. Flood and C. Hamilton, Mapping homophobia in Australia, Australia Institute Webpaper July 2005, Available: http://www.tai.org.au/documents/downloads/WP79.pdf (Accessed: 28 November 2006). 64 A. Horin, In gay Sydney its still safer in the closet, The Sydney Morning Herald, 11 October 2003, p. 31. 65 City of Sydney, Social Plan 2006-2010, p. 99. 66 McGuirk, Pretty vacant in ghetto vacuous. 67 Jackson, Maps of meaning. 68 Sullivan, The end of gay culture,; B. Archer, The end of gay (and the death of heterosexuality), New York, USA: Thunders Mouth Press, 2002.; Willett, Living out loud. 69 Macken, Something amiss in the heart of Darlo. 70 A. Hornery, Over the rainbow, The Sydney Morning Herald, 5 October 2002, p. 31. 71 Sullivan, The end of gay culture, p. 17. 72 As Faro and Wotherspoon, Street seen, p. 286, argued that it was. 73 See Reynolds, From camp to queer; Faro and Wotherspoon, Street seen. 74 Sullivan, The end of gay culture, p. 20. 75 R. Reynolds, The carnival is over, The Sydney Morning Herald , Spectrum section, 14 September 2002, p. 4. 76 J. Binnie, Trading places: Consumption, sexuality and the production of queer space, in D. Bell and G. Valentine (eds), Mapping desire: Geographies of sexualities, London, UK: Routledge, 1995, pp. 182-199. 77 See F. James, The mirror ball cracked, SX News, 22 June 2006, p. 12. 78 Castells, The city and the grassroots, p. 255. 79 Reynolds, The carnival is over; Sullivan, The end of gay culture, Archer, The end of gay. 80 Sullivan, The end of gay culture. 81 For more discussion of the Mardi Gras parade, see Reynolds, From camp to queer; K. Markwell, Mardi Gras tourism and the construction of Sydney as an international gay and lesbian city, GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies, 8, 1-2, (2002): 8199; L. Johnston, Queering tourism: Paradoxical performances at gay pride parades, Abingdon, Oxon, UK: Routledge, 2005; or K. Seebohm, The nature and meaning of the Sydney Mardi Gras in a landscape of inscribed social relations, in R. Aldrich (ed), Gay perspectives II: More essays in Australian gay culture, The University of Sydney: University Printing Service, 1993. 82 Johnston, Queering tourism. 83 T. Dick, At the end of the rainbow, The Sydney Morning Herald , 11 March 2006, p. 27. 84 Seebohm, The nature and meaning of the Sydney Mardi Gras in a landscape of inscribed social relations. 85 Faro and Wotherspoon, Street seen .
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New Mardi Gras, History, 2006, Available: http://www.mardigras.org.au/internal.cfm?sub=History&nav=A bout%20Us (Accessed: 30 November 2006). 87 For example, T. Dick, The bitch is back, The Sydney Morning Herald, Metro section, 4 February 2005, p. 5; M. Wearring, What is the community, anyway?, Sydney Star Observer, 27 October 2005, p. 13; Reynolds, From camp to queer; or D. Mills, Gay Sydney where to now?, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Sydney Magazine, 21 May 2003, p. 50. 88 Knopp, Sexuality and urban space, p. 166. 89 Johnston, Queering tourism, p. 1. 90 Markwell, Mardi Gras tourism and the construction of Sydney as an international gay and lesbian city, p. 90. 91 Knopp, Sexuality and urban space; Markwell, Mardi Gras tourism and the construction of Sydney as an international gay and lesbian city. 92 S. Dow, Accept, dont patronise, The Age, 2 March 2002, p. 30. 93 D. Murphy, P. Rawstorne, M. Holt and D. Ryan, Cruising and connecting online: The use of internet chat sites by gay men in Sydney and Melbourne, The University of NSW: National Centre in HIV Social Research, 2004, p. 6. 94 Wearring, What is the community, anyway? 95 See D. Barr, The growth of gay online dating, The Independent, 19 February 2006. 96 See R. Domingo, Children of a revolution, SX News, 3 August 2006, p. 14. 97 F. Connolly, Leaving home: Sydneys gay and lesbian community quits the east, The Daily Telegraph, 27 August 2001, p. 16. 98 S. Nicholls, Think pink, The Sydney Morning Herald, Domain section, 17 February 2005, p. 2; S. Farrar, How the Inner West was won, Sydney Star Observer, 17 August 2006. 99 A. Gorman-Murray, Imagining King Street in the Gay/Lesbian Media, M/C Journal, 9, 3 (2006), Available: http://journal.media-culture.org.au/0607/04-gorman-murray.php (Accessed: 28 November 2006). 100 Hodge, No fags out there. 101 Murphy and Watson, Surface City, p. 80. 102 D. Powell, Out west: Perceptions of Sydneys western suburbs, St. Leonards, NSW: Allen & Unwin, 1993, p. xviii. 103 D. McInness, Inside the outside: Politics and gay and lesbian spaces in Sydney, in C. Johnston and P. van Reyk (eds), Queer city: Gay and lesbian politics in Sydney, Annandale, NSW: Pluto Press Australia, 2001, pp. 164-178 (p. 168). 104 Such as Gays and Lesbians Out West or the Canterbury/Bankstown Gay and Lesbian Social Group. See Hodge, No fags out there, or Mills, Gay Sydney where to now? 105 McInness, Inside the outside, p. 172. 106 T. Lennon, Celebrating a life so gay, The Daily Telegraph, 18 February 2000, p. 101. 107 Sydney Star Observer, The q files: The SSO A-Z guide to queer Sydney O is for, 16 March 2006, p. 10. 108 Castells, The city and the grassroots, p. 170.

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